Comparing the Gap Acceptance and Turn Time Patterns of Novice with Experienced Drivers for Turns across Traffic

Novice drivers are over-represented in crashes involving turns across traffic at intersections and yet little is understood about the contributing factors. The current study proposed to explore the gap acceptance and turn time patterns of novice relative to experienced drivers when turning across traffic. Thirty novice and 30 experienced drivers each carried out a series of trials in a driving simulator that varied in their level of task demand – operationalised in terms of the gap between two successive oncoming vehicles. The novices accepted more gaps than the experienced drivers, although this effect was restricted to gaps falling within the decision “dilemma zone” (higher task demand). Examination of the turn time components for the accepted and, where appropriate, the rejected gaps, revealed that the performance of the novice drivers, in contrast with that of the experienced drivers, was not consistent with the changing task demands. These findings are interpreted in the context of differences between novice and experienced drivers’ calibration skill – that is, the ability to match task demands to one’s driving capabilities.